The films I always go back to : Say Anything (1989)

“The films I always go back to” is where bloggers write about the film they always find themselves re-visiting after stressful weeks, or messy break-ups, or maybe just because they love it so much.

Truth be told I regularly watch the trailer for this 80s romantic comedy, its kind of like a pick-me-up, if I'm feeling down, probably my favorite trailer ever(Into the wild is up there in my top 5 trailers as well)

Warning, the trailer contains spoilers:

I haven’t seen the film that many times, I think it would spoil any film to re-watch too often, I feel that about all films. Having said that, Say Anything brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. No doubt it’s because the characters feel so real, and the dialogue is so witty and memorable.

The film you feel is personal to director Cameron Crowe, the story moves me, I care about and like Lloyd Dobler and Diane Court. It was Crowe's directorial debut.

The story is different to your regular formulaic rom-com, you can’t guess the ending. In that way, I feel it mirrors real life, you wonder and are interested in what will happen to them after the end credits.

The story dares to be normal, the insecurity of the characters makes you remember what it was like to have the same emotions and experiences growing up. What will happen after you’ve finished high school? Will you still be friends with your school mates? how will your parents react to a new boyfriend/girlfriend? You can compare the coming-of-age tale to your own life, and see all the mistakes you made, or risks you took, dreams you had. The film makes me yearn to experience that time in my life all over again ( :

John Cusack is probably a little bit too old to play the high school kid, but the story of his first love is heartwarming and funny.

Entertainment Weekly ranked Say Anything... as the greatest modern movie romance, and it was ranked number 11 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 best high-school movies.

I love the use of the Peter Gabriel song, In Your Eyes, a classic moment of music and moviemaking.

To put it simply, a film I will always go back to and treasure.

Do you have your own film you always go back to? Feel free to join the blogathon and post your own.

8 comments:

I agree, watching a movie too much makes us numb and lost the feel of it.If it's a movie by Cameron Crowe, I must say I am interested. Some of his movies, like elizabethtown and vanilla sky did not mark in my mind but I love 'singles', 'almost famous' and definitely 'jerry maguire'.

I'll have to join the blogathon, as I don't have to think long about the movie I go back to again and again.

But about Say Anything, it's brilliant (even if I prefer Crowe's Almost Famous over it), and contains one of my favorite lines of dialog ever "Are you here because you need someone, or because you need me? ... You know what, I don't even care."

@Dan : I see Cameron Crowe wrote the screenplay, so I guess that's why it feels so personal. On top of that debut films are often powerful. Back to the future is wonderful, one of the most memorable films of the 80s for me.

@The Kid In The Front Row : I enjoyed taking part in your blogathon, and would gladly take part in others. Thanks for the praise of my writing ( :

@ Kyle : I'll have to stop by and see your entry. That's a great piece of dialogue you quoted from the film. I love some of the lines included in the trailer above.

@ Kyle : Your quote from Say Anything really sums up many relationships, I think, people need to fight loneliness, and sometimes it can be difficult to justify why you are together with a specific person. And at that age, sometimes you are just "in love with being in love", who the other person is, sometimes is not so important, that's how I see it. Although you have to have something in common to a certain degree to make it work. When you can put into words why you are in a relationship with someone, then its also a way of showing you care about, and understand your partners personality, and not just their body.

I had a smile on my face through that whole trailer! I love this movie so much that I try not to watch it too often. It's funny that certain films I can watch a gazillion times but others I want to savor.